UMass consumes about 30% of Amherst water
Yes both the University of Massachusetts, our flagship institute that makes us a college town, and Amherst College, that makes us a classier college town, are watering their athletic fields, theoretically violating the town water ban.
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Amherst College consumes about 4% of Amherst water
Otherwise they are both taking the ban very seriously and realize if the water system fails, it could be game over.
19 comments:
As always, school athletics trumps just about anything else.
Shame on these schools for such policies. Water bans means everybody, not just non-athletes!
If the athletic fields are so important then the water should be trucked in from somewhere else.
This is a symptom of a larger problem i.e. the disproportionate attention to athletics as part of the UMass mission.
Using the "health and safety" exemption is pretty cynical. My mental health is dependent on not watching my beautifully landscaped yard wither. Am I exempt?
I disagree with the previous post. This seems a very reasonable and targeted use of water. There's a big difference with a residential lawn that only serves the needs of its owners. The fields serve a valuable public purpose shared by many users.
Anonymous 9:11:
Actually, in this case, it wouldn't apply to athletes in terms of field watering...because its being done for health and safety reasons. That exception is clearly spelled out by the town.
Look at the lawns on these campuses, especially before the rain of a few days ago and its pretty clear water is being used sparingly.
Amherst College makes Amherst classier? Don't you mean snobbier or elitist or segregated or something like that?
Amherst is quite classed we all know that - folks are absolutely not equal, that is true, but those associated with Amherst are not higher class than those associated with UMASS. Those with the highest class in town are the town employees and parents, they get the most privilege and resources with the lowest effort.
The colleges can well afford to drill own / athletic field dedicated wells for irrigation - potability issues - non existent !!! What's not to like ???
All these emails to students & parents will backfire.
Trust me, it will.
I don't trust Anons.
Could you be more specific why it will backfire?
Let's look at that letter from Ms. Buffone again. Turf, they are watering a TURF field.
(Turf, weirdly, is what people call artificial grass these days... (astro)turf, I guess.
They are using our water on plastic grass.
Doesn't UMASS reuse some of the water treated by the Amherst Water Pollution Control Facility? Maybe it should be expanded to provide irrigation to the athletic fields instead of using drinking water.
Well. They started the emails and the flyers and other forms of messaging as soon as the students arrived.
And water use was down.
So. I'll say it won't backfire.
We are really going to have a Health and Safety issue when our plumbing runs dry.
Those pictures of the reservoir tell the story- we are in trouble!
Individually we can only do so much- For the ban to help- everyone needs to do their part.
(Sure wish we had individual household water storage so my conservation efforts would help me and not the water wasters)
The fields are not a priority!
I'm wondering what sort of public town-gown discussion went on that established the precedent that watering a turf athletic field was a high priority for water use during a mandatory water ban.
After living most of the summer with restrictions (we've been taking water from a basement dehumidifier and using that), this just doesn't feel right. Perhaps there's an explanation, or a bigger picture of considerations, that would make it all make sense to us little people in town. Maybe there was a process that would correspond to "consent of the governed." I sure hope so. I understand that Ms. Buffone is only the messenger here.
Rich Morse
If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down.
Or start peeing in your backyard (under cover of darkness or plantings of course).
There was likely no town-gown discussion on the idea that watering turf is an exception. Instead, it falls under the health and safety exception established by the town applicable to all water customers. That field is meant to be played on after being soaked, not while dry. There's a potential for injury otherwise.
The colleges need to purchase water for their fields from water supply companies
http://www.caponepoolwater.com/index.html
Where is Capone's getting IT'S water from?
From the fire hydrant in front of the S Hadley fire station.
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